This post is by Kenn Costales, a growth hacker and founder of growthhackerkit.com. Kenn loves finding new ways to marketing products online without spending a dime, and he shows us some of his tactics in this post. Take it away, Kenn! So you have it all planned out. You have discovered that there’s a gap in your space, you have made your lesson plan, and you’re pumped up and passionate about it all. You may be even done with building the course. But a question looms: how do you spread the word to potential students? How do you make it more known to your target community? To which sites should you post links on? I have good news for you: this is a solved problem. Many authors before you have developed online courses for all types of content; and I’ll teach you the best practices that you need to take your course from 0 students to 1000 students. All without spending anything on advertising. First, however, I will dispel a common mistake teachers make when they set out to build their course. And that mistake is that they pursue a build-first approach rather than an audience-first approach. The reason that the "build-first" approach is suboptimal is because you are assuming a lot of things to be true, which exposes you to a lot of risk in your course. Especially around what content to write and how your course structure should be. And I understand where you’re coming from: you’re an expert in your field. You’ve talked to old students offline and you know your stuff. I’m not disputing that. Instead, what I’m saying is that you can reduce your promotion risk significantly by taking an audience-first approach. And by doing it audience-first, you will know where to promote before you’ve even started. You will have clarity on what specific topics people want to know. This eliminates your risk of low interest significantly, setting yourself up for a wave of organic traffic to your course. That said, here are the 4 key parts to this mini-tutorial to ensure steady, consistent traffic to your course: How to Discover Where your Ideal Audience Hangs Out How to Read your Audience’s Minds How to Build Respect and Reputation among your Audience How to Share Your Course to an Audience that’s Ready to Buy your Product How to Discover Where your Ideal Audience Hangs Out Let’s pretend that you’re a consulting client of mine and you want to promote a course around Marketing Analytics. The first thing that I’ll state to you is that you’ll need to ask the right question — you need to ask first "who do you plan to serve" rather than "what you plan to serve". In the Marketing Analytics case, you will then have to make a choice: do you want to target CMOs, Marketing Managers, Marketing Newbies, or Entrepreneurs? Say that you’ve chosen to target entrepreneurs. If that is the case, then the first task is to start googling for "where this audience hangs out". The best way to do this is to look for "online lounges". Online lounges are spaces in the internet where people discuss things related to their topic of interest. These can be forums, blogs, and mailing lists. The way that I do this is to do the following steps: Open up your search engine (eg. Google, Bing, Yahoo!) Do a search query using any of the following combinations: - {Profession} + {topic} + forum - {Profession} + {topic} + mailing list - {Profession} + {topic} + blog - {Profession} + {topic} + industry forum - {Profession} + {topic} + link-sharing site (Eg. Reddit, stumbleupon) - Example: Entrepreneur + Marketing + forum And just right there, I get to discover 10+ potential forums to target: It doesn’t end there yet. Once you select a specific forum, you need to drill down further and make another search query using your topic of choice. In this example, we search for discussions revolving around marketing within reddit.com/r/entrepreneur. What you want to look out for here is any indication of pain or trouble from the original poster. From the initial query of just "marketing" within the subreddit. We don’t have any luck. So how do we refine our search to really dig for pain? Let’s add "pain indicators" like "help" or "advice needed". Let’s check out the results. We can see that in just the first page, we get a lot of potentially useful threads. If you have found specific threads with LOTS of expressions of pain, then you know that you’re in the right online lounge to promote to in the future. As you dive in and do more research, you will find that some forums will work for specific topics and some forums won’t. This will help you focus your promotion efforts only in areas where your ideal target audience hangs out. This is critical to the success of your course. From the above 15 minute exercise, we just got evidence that reddit.com/r/entrepreneur is a great place to promote our marketing course. Try it out for other forums! My advice is that you need to identify at least 10 online lounges. Blogs work too (especially with its very active comment sections). How to Read your Audience’s Minds By now, you have a long list of threads with clear indications of pain. Let’s underline all of them and let’s really understand who are audience is. Once you collect enough data, you’ll start seeing patterns on who your audience is. Once you identify these patterns, you start to get a strong instinct of what your audience feels and thinks about marketing in general. From the above, there are some small patterns emerging (we’ll need 10+ more painful threads to really know) that entrepreneurs really want 3 things: a highly efficient digital marketing strategy with low cash outlay, tips around local or city-wise marketing, and how to position oneself to get high-value clients. Earlier, in our hypothetical example, you wanted to build a product around Marketing Analytics. But it turns out it may be too advanced (at least for the Reddit online lounge). It is better to pursue a course focused on low-budget, high-efficiency advertising, local marketing, and seeking & closing high-value clients. My course structure for these samples of pain will then start to look like this: How to Use Facebook Interest Targeting to find High-Quality Clients at a few dimes a Click How to Build a Referral Machine by using these Pitch Scripts in Your Next Local Chamber of Commerce Event How to Discover the Needs only High-Value Clients Have Course Name: "How to Get High-Value Clients Using with Hyperlocal and Hyper targeted Marketing" If you dropped that course within the Reddit space, I’m sure that will get traction. See what evidence-based marketing gives us? How to Build Respect and Reputation among your Audience Beyond discovering pains, however, you need to establish yourself as an authority within these online lounges. That means giving bite-sized advice whenever you encounter these pains. By bite-sized, I mean something that’s from 1 to 10 sentences but is actionable enough for the person to use. As an example, I would answer the person who said "haven’t found FB to be useful" and "need an efficient strategy" in this way: "I understand that you need an efficient digital strategy given your low budget. I am surprised, however, that you find FB ads to be NOT useful. I do FB ads a lot in my consultancy, and here’s how I suggest you do your targeting to get quality clicks at $0.40 - $0.80 per click: ONLY use interest targeting. Leave everything else at defaults. When you use interest targeting, make sure to use 10+ interests and leave out interests with a large reach. Reason being large reach per interest will equate to high cost per click. If I were targeting entrepreneurs into marketing, I would use interests by using gurus like ‘Neil Patel’, ‘Derek Halpern’, ‘Darren Rowse’, etc. I would leave out ‘Gary Vaynerchuk’ because his reach is way too big! Make sure that the TOTAL reach does not exceed 800,000 people Start your test! Make sure your test is locked to $5 per day. NEVER use the lifetime budget option. If you exceed $1 per click, you need to cut off interests with the highest reach and add more ‘niche’ interests If you need ideas on ‘niche’ interests, google for tools, influencers, and software then try it out" If you give advice at such low-level and actionable detail, you will gain respect and authority within the space. How to Share Your Course to an Audience that’s Ready to Buy your Product "Isn’t it spammy to post links?!" "What if I get banned?!" I’m sure you had these thoughts. And these are fair assertions. In order to to solve for this problem, what you can do is to use inline links in your comments and you pair this with other links not related to your site. This helps drive the sense that you intend to be helpful and not be spammy. Here’s a personal example when I tried to help someone having trouble with landing pages: Apart from sharing these comments, you need to do this consistently, day-after-day, for only 1 hour a day. The thing with marketing is that it’s a frequency game. With paid ads, the ads work for you — it generates reach and frequency at the click of the button. With these organic efforts, you need to build the reach and frequency yourself. So you are your own ad. But as long as you dedicate 1 hour a day, you should start to get a good flow of leads to your landing page. By doing these 4 broad, strategic steps, I was able to build GrowthHackerKit.com to around 4k-5k organic visits a month, 89% from direct links. Check out the stats below from SimilarWeb. No dollar spent on advertising at all. Give lots of free, actionable value to the world, and the world will love you back. I wish you great results in your journey! P.S. If you like the idea of getting super-actionable marketing advice, hop on over to GrowthHackerKit.com, and join the community of growth hackers! I’m building more and more content and I’d love to share what I’ve learned with you. To start with, you can go for our Expert-led Growth Hacker Course, where folks from Close.io, Onboardly, and Salesfolk share what has worked for them! The post How To Go From 0 To 1000 Online Course Students With No Ad Budget appeared first on Thinkific.

Cross-Post from sylviaduckworth.com With as much confidence as you have about your subject area of expertise, for a new presenter, it's normal to feel nervous about sharing your ideas in front of a group of strangers.The tips below, written by GAFE Summit presenter Sylvia Duckworth, can help you knock your presentation out of the park!1. Go over your presentation days before. Make sure all the links and videos work. Try opening all Google Apps documents with a different Google account. (Note: see this sketchnote for some EdTechTeam tips on a great presentation).2. Practice your presentation. Ask a friend/colleague to watch and provide feedback.3. Earlier in the week check that you have all the equipment necessary for your presentation (dongle, clicker, power bar, projector, speakers, etc.) and put them in a bag by your door. (Note: GAFE Summits will have projectors and speakers already set up in presentation rooms).4. Try to get a good sleep the night before. If you suspect that you’re not going to sleep well, try to get a good night’s sleep two nights before.5. Charge your devices the night before.6. At the venue, ask someone in charge who you can contact in case you have a technology glitch. If possible, go to your presentation room early in the morning before anyone arrives. Plug in your laptop/speakers/projector and make sure that everything works.7. Make sure you know how to set the proper resolution for your laptop to maximize projection on the screen and to be able to view all of your open tabs. If you don’t know how to do this, find someone who can help. (NOTE: Every projector will display your screen in a different way which is why I recommend you check this early.)8. Internet connection: Sometimes there will be a special wifi network for presenters only, so ask about this. But if you have a hard-wired option, take it. In fact, it's a good idea to have your presentation (and videos) in a non-internet-dependent form in case you lose all internet connection.9. If the room and audience is large, ask for a microphone. Wireless clip-on is best. If going with clip-on, avoid wearing a long top/shirt (or dress) without a belt to clip the receiver onto.10. At a conference, try to get to your presentation room at least 15 minutes before your presentation. Sit at the back of the room, and as soon as the previous presenter has wrapped up, start setting up for your presentation. You might need to be assertive and that’s okay.11. When people start to arrive to your session, be friendly and say hello (it will relax you). Ask them how they are enjoying the conference, etc.12. Make sure you have lots of water nearby: you will get very thirsty!13. Just before your presentation, take a few deep breaths and remind yourself why you are there: You have something to offer and the audience appreciates you being there to share your expertise.14. Apply to present again and again. The more you do it, the less nervous you will be.There's so much to gain from stepping out of your comfort zone and sharing your knowledge with others. What are some of your tips to overcome the jitters?

[Post by K.M. Lowe, Writer & Corporate Communicator] BDO is a professional services firm that has been providing financial and consulting services for more than 100 years. Each year it publishes reports related to the economy and business. These reports analyze filings by top publicly traded companies in various industries. Most of the reports that have been published in the past few years list talent in the top risk factors. In some cases the issue is acquiring and retaining talent. In others it is regulatory compliance. As anyone in the talent or learning management world knows, meeting compliance is as dependent on employees and their training as it is on processes and technology. The 2015 BDO Life Sciences RiskFactor Report cites FDA approvals and compliance at the top of the list of risk factors. "Not only do life sciences companies operate in an intensely competitive environment, they also face many hurdles when it comes to bringing their product to market… Companies also perceive compliance requirements as potential roadblocks. All 100 companies analyzed cite risks associated with FDA approvals and compliance, up from 94 percent in 2014…" To read more about the report or download it in PDF visit: BDO Life Sciences RiskFactor Report According to the 2015 Technology RiskFactor Report competition triggers a battle for talent and acquisitions in the technology industry. "…all of the 100 largest public technology companies in the U.S. mention risks related to competition in their annual filings. However, competition isn’t limited to only product development and pricing. Increasingly, competition for human capital is really heating up as hiring becomes a top priority for leading technology firms. As such, 95 percent of companies mention concerns over their ability to attract and retain key personnel, up from 81 percent in 2014." To read more about the report or download it in PDF visit: BDO Technology RiskFactor Report The 2015 BDO Retail RiskFactor Report asserts that a tightening workforce boosts concerns about the labor market. "Labor risks remain top of mind for a full 96 percent of retailers. With strong overall job growth so far in 2015, retailers are facing an increasingly competitive labor environment, and are struggling to hire and retain qualified store associates and distribution center employees… Competition for top industry executives also remains cutthroat. On the hunt for dynamic leaders that understand both the industry and its digital evolution, four-in-five retailers cite risks related to attracting and retaining key management personnel." To read more about the report or download it in PDF visit: BDO Retail RiskFactor Report Reports on other industries can be acquired from the BDO website: www.bdo.com

[Post by Justin Hearn, President of GeoMetrix Data Systems Inc.] Over the past few years, many organizations have switched their enterprise applications to cloud versions. You’ve probably heard the benefits of cloud or software-as-a-service (SaaS): low start-up costs; instant implementation; no hardware to install or maintain. So with all these advantages, why are some organizations returning to installed systems? While cloud-applications can be inexpensive initially, they can be costly as time goes on. One consultant we work with said, "Cloud applications can be great for many organizations, but continuous monthly fees add up over time. With installed software, the up-front costs are usually the largest: licensing and implementation. Maintaining the system gets less expensive over time, and the longer you keep it, the cheaper it is." A large county government that bought our LMS had initially wanted a SaaS system but in the end the agency chose an installed solution. "It was cheaper for us in the long term to own software than to pay an ongoing subscription to SaaS, since we are a large organization with 8,000-plus employees. Also, we can customize the software’s functionality to meet our diverse departmental needs." Many of the organizations that choose our installed software over a SaaS system have data security and integration concerns that can’t always be met in a cloud-based system. A consultant who advised his client to choose our installed LMS over a cloud version said, "Even though I’ve observed much improvement in how a customer can configure SaaS systems, generally, cloud applications must be designed to meet the needs of the many." The consultant noted that the organizations he works with are mandated to protect all employee data. "I feel it is difficult, even with well-written data security agreements, to trust outside vendors with sensitive data. From my experience, clients are more reassured when the sensitive data stays in house." But many organizations still complain that the up-front costs of an installed solution are prohibitive. Consultants in the know say there are ways to mitigate those costs. "First, buy only what you need. If you only need learning management, don’t buy a full talent management suite that has onboarding and compensation." These same specialists suggest avoiding big software vendors who are well-known for high prices. "Find a vendor with low implementation costs… you may need to look outside the top sellers for this. Just because the software is installed doesn’t mean it needs to take two years and two million dollars to implement." Wow — two years and two millions dollars? We’ve heard of such projects but we’ve never participated in one, and we’ve got some pretty big implementations (100,000+ users). If that’s what the marketplace is used to, it’s no wonder some organizations are scared away by the prospect of an installed solution. Typically, our implementations take weeks or at most a few months, and the implementation costs are two-figure never even three. We specialize in offering an in-house LMS that won’t break your budget. And ours has both the functionality and customizability that you might not find in a run-of-the-mill cloud LMS. But what if you need the functionality, security and customization of an installed solution but don’t want the issues of hardware or the staffing required to maintain an in-house enterprise system? That’s where hosting comes in. The hardware is installed at a third-party hosting facility and the ISP is responsible for maintenance. Single-tenant hosting is even available, which means that the hardware is dedicated to your organization with no sharing of services with other users. You retain complete control and exclusive access. Is an installed LMS more of a commitment than a cloud version? Certainly. Is it worth it? Many organizations still say yes. If you’re a beginner in the LMS market and it’s your first time investing in an LMS, you may want to start with a SaaS subscription to a cloud LMS. That way you can learn what works and what doesn’t without a large financial commitment. Then when you’re ready to move to the next level, take a look at what an installed LMS can offer. We think you’ll be surprised.

So you’re thinking of adopting lean manufacturing at your workplace, huh? But what will you tell employees and managers? How will you explain lean to them? In this article, we’ve got some ideas, suggestions, and tools for you to use. We think these can help you introduce lean to rank and file employees and managers. Then you can go on to get into these ideas in more detail and to introduce more ideas over time. But that doesn’t mean we’ve got the perfect list. So if you’ve been through this before, feel free to share your own ideas and thoughts. That’s what the comments section is for at the bottom of this article. You’ll also notice we included the names and links to a few classic lean books. Again, feel free to recommend some of your own faves in the comments section. Convergence Training is a training solutions provider for manufacturers. We offer a many libraries of e-learning courses, several learning management systems (LMSs), custom training solutions, and more. Contact us for more details. You may also want to download our free Guide to Effective Manufacturing Training while you’re here. So You’re Going Lean… Let’s say you’ve heard about lean. You’ve read about it and you’ve studied it, and you’re excited by it. Even better, you’d like to introduce it at your workplace. But how and where do you start? What are the things to mention on the first day, or the first few days? (Of course, there are many excellent books that walk you through the whole process, which is beyond our scope in this article, but we’ll share a few beginning ideas.) Here’s what we’re going to cover: What is lean? What is value? What is waste? (We’ll introduce muda, mura, and muri, and then focus on muda) Eliminating waste The "original" seven wastes Other forms of wastes The first steps of implementing lean 5S Job standardization Kaizen So let’s do it, huh? What Is Lean? Lean is a method for making a manufacturing process more efficient. That process of "making a manufacturing process more efficient" is performed by identifying and focusing on value creation and getting rid of stuff that doesn’t contribute to value creation. So What Is Value? Value is determined by your customers. If they’d be willing to pay for a process or action so that it’s part of the good or service they’re buying, it’s contributing value. If they wouldn’t be willing to pay for it, it doesn’t contribute value. And Then What Is Waste? Waste is anything you’re doing that doesn’t create or increase value. (Remember, that’s value as determined by your customers and their willingness to pay for it.) Reducing and/or Eliminating Waste Once you’ve identified value, you can begin to identify, reduce, and eliminate the waste that doesn’t contribute to value. And that’s what makes you more efficient. Click the arrow button below to review what you just learned and then quiz yourself. Three Types of Wastes: Muda, Mura, and Muri Lean thinkers have broken the idea of "waste" down into three general categories, each known by a Japanese word beginning with the prefix mu-: Muda: Something that doesn’t add value to a process. Mura: Unevenness in an operation. Muri: Overburden, unreasonable conditions. Let’s look at each more closely. Muda This is the "classic" sense of waste that we’ve discussed throughout this article-anything in a process that doesn’t contribute value. Muda can be broken down into two more categories: Muda type 1: Doesn’t add value as determined by the customer but is still necessary and therefore can’t be eliminated now. Muda type 2: Doesn’t add value as determined by customer, is not necessary, and can be eliminated now. As you probably guessed, lean efficiency efforts focus by definition on muda type 2. Mura Mura means unevenness or inconsistency. An example would be having a production line in which materials "pile up" at one production stage, creating an inventory of unused materials. Muri Muri means overburden or unreasonableness. An example would be a machine or worker that’s overworked. The Relation: Muda, Mura, and Muri Muda, mura, and muri are three different concepts. Yet, they’re related, and eliminating one can help you eliminate the others. Click the arrow below to review what you learned and then quiz yourself on muda, mura, and muri. So now you know there are three general types of waste. We’ll focus on muda (which, as you probably remember, is something you’re doing that doesn’t add value) for the rest of this article. But don’t lose sight of the other two, and maybe we’ll write more about them in the future. The "Original" Seven Wastes (Seven Muda) Seven types of waste (muda) were originally identified by Toyota’s Chief Engineer, Taiichi Ohno, as part of the Toyota Production System (TPS). They were also reprinted in the classic book Lean Thinking by James Womack and Daniel Jones. That book is a recommended read and it’s where I’ve taken the list from. The "original" seven wastes are: Excess Transport: Excess movement of the work in process, which wastes time and other resources. Excess Inventory: Excess inventory is a waste of cash and space. It requirements management and can become obsolete over time. Excess Motion: When people have to spend more time walking from place to place for their job, or looking around for things in a messy environment. Waiting: Time is money, and sitting around waiting is wasted time/money. Waiting can be caused by many things, including breakdowns, production bottlenecks, shortages of supplies, materials, and parts, poorly conceived processes without good "flow," slow or absent workers, and more. Over Production: Creating more than demand. This is commonly considered the worst kind of waste, because it creates other forms of waste too. For example, if you produce too much, you’ve then got to use transport to move it to storage and use space to store it, plus it represents cash used to create it that you can’t use for other purposes. Over Processing: Work that’s part of your process but that adds no value as determined by your customers. Defects: Defective goods and/or rejects are a waste of time, money, and supplies. If you take the first letter of each of these wastes, you’ll get the acronym TIMWOOD, which may make it easier to remember. Click the arrow button below to review what you learned and then quiz yourself on the original seven wastes. Additional Forms of Waste As you’d imagine, since the original seven types of waste were listed, people have come up with others. These include: Products that don’t meet customer demands or specifications Unused human talent Wasted space Working with no metrics or to the wrong metrics Not allowing workers to contribute ideas and suggestions and be part of "participative management" Improper use of computers (wrong/poor software; poor or lack of training; time wasted "surfing," etc.) Maybe you can think of more examples of waste? What are some of your own ideas-write them below in the comments section! The First Steps of Getting Lean, Removing Waste, and Increasing Value One simple way to introduce lean to the workplace is begin with three aspects and build from there. (Remember, if you have tips of your own for this, please leave them below in the comments section, we welcome them.) Those aspects are: 5S Job standardization Kaizen Let’s look at each in more detail. 5S It’s very common for companies just implementing lean to begin with 5S. 5S is a method for making a workplace more organized and efficient. Having a more organized, efficient workplace allows a company to increase value, decrease waste, and be more efficient. It also improves safety, which is a great bonus. 5S is a five-step process. Each step was originally named with a Japanese word beginning with the letter "S." The English translations also begin with the letter "S," conveniently. We’ve got the steps explained for you below. Step 1: Sort (Seiri) The first phase of 5S is to sort. Sorting means taking stuff from the workplace if it’s not needed for your work processes. You can put that stuff in long-term storage, or maybe you’ll dispose of it. Red-tagging is a process to help you sort. You just go around the work area and put a red tag on everything that’s unnecessary. Then, collect everything with a red tag on it, put all red-tagged items in a central holding area, and move each red-tagged item from the central holding area to an appropriate location (storage, trash, etc.). Step 2: Straighten (Seiton)-Also Known as Set in Order After everything that’s unnecessary has been removed, you should organize everything that’s left so it’s all in the best possible location. This means putting things where they’re easy to access when they’re needed and so that their location helps to increase efficiency and decrease waste. While sorting, consider marking areas with tape or paint so it’s obvious what goes where. This is part of what’s known as the visual workplace, which is a very important concept in lean. Want more information about visual workplaces and visual communication? Check the book The Visual Factory by Michael Grief. Below is a short sample from the 5S e-learning course by Convergence Training. It explains the second S-straighten-and demonstrates putting things in their place and using visual communication to mark their place. Step 3: Shine (Seiso)-Also Known as Sweep or Sanitize Once you’ve sorted and straightened, then clean up the workplace. That’s what "shine" means. Step 4: Standardize (Seiketsu) So now you’ve sorted, straightened, and shined. The workplace is looking good and you’re seeing more efficiency already. But don’t stop now.  It’s time to standardize to make sure things stay this way. This means developing best practices to keep things as you’ve got them now and creating consistent procedures for performing jobs efficiently. To do this, include sort, straighten, and shine in people’s job responsibilities so they’ll be done consistently. Remember, if you don’t do this, things will return to "same old" quickly enough, and your gains will be lost. Step 5: Sustain (Shitsuke) The final element of 5S is to sustain. That means to keep it going. Change isn’t easy, and if you don’t keep feeding the lean fire, things will break down. A great way to keep it going is to continue talking about it and make sure all employees feel involved. Welcome their feedback and insights. Signs, posters, meetings, and other methods of communication can also help keep the 5S method and practices fresh and make sure things don’t spiral out of hand again. And it’s important that management continue emphasizing their commitment to lean. Employees will notice this and act accordingly. It’s not easy to change a company’s culture. Keep beating the lean drum. 5S Review Click the arrow button below to review what you learned and quiz yourself on 5S. Job Standardization Job standardization is the process of developing the single best way for a worker to perform each job task, documenting that method, teaching workers to perform the task that way, and then making sure that’s really how employees do perform the task. Managers and the employees who perform the task as part of their job should develop the standard method for doing the task together. Managers shouldn’t dictate this, as employees typically know the task better than managers do. You may find this book on the Training Within Industry (TWI) "Job Instruction" article of interest if you want to explore this topic further. Kaizen Kaizen means something like "change for the better." (For more information, read our longer articles on kaizen and kaizen events). Lean manufacturing depends on kaizen so that the company is always trying to improve, be better, create more value, and eliminate more waste. The goal of kaizen isn’t to make a single big change with drastic results. Instead, it’s to create a never-ending series of small changes, each of which leads to small improvements. The total effect of all those small changes, however, is a large improvement. Kaizen flips the traditional pattern of "change from above" upside-down. In kaizen, employees are given the power to make suggestions. In fact, one of management’s key roles in a kaizen culture is to train workers about kaizen and to encourage workers to make suggestions for continuous improvement. Once workers understand their role in kaizen and get used to doing it, they’ll become more active, engaged workers. As a result, the process of continuous improvement will begin moving forward, little bit by little bit. When employees see their suggestions implemented, and see the improvements that result over time, they’ll get even more excited and will become even more active participants in the kaizen culture at your workplace. Soon you’ll have a runaway snowball of kaizen! Kaizen will help you create a continuous self-improvement cycle-lather, rinse, repeat. If you’d like to explore this topic more, you may enjoy this article on kaizen and/or this article on the related-yet-different concept of kaizen events. Kaizen and Standardization: Standardization, Modification, Evaluation, New Standard But wait. You may be wondering if job standardization and kaizen aren’t direct contradictions. That’s a good question, if you were. But actually, the lean idea of kaizen is closely linked with the idea of standard work. In lean, it’s considered important to have work done in a standard way, as we mentioned. But that doesn’t mean the standard way to do work can never change. If a worker comes up with an idea to make word more efficient (by increasing value and/or decreasing waste), the change is put into effect. Then the change is monitored and the results of the change are measured. Those measurements are compared to earlier measurements of the same work process before the change occurred. If the change truly did increase value, it’s kept and a new standard is created. If the change didn’t increase value, it’s scrapped, and the company returns to the old method and/or looks for a new way to modify the process. This process continues as long as the company does. Click the arrow button below to review what you learned about 5S, job standardization, and kaizen and then quiz yourself.   Conclusion: What Else Should You Tell Employees about Lean? So what do you think? How did we do? Did we include the "right" stuff for introducing lean to your workers? If not, what might you add, what might you remove, or what might you change? And what stories can you tell us based on your personal experience of implementing lean at real workplaces? What worked well? What didn’t? Where were the big challenges and sources of opposition? Where were your big victories and successes? Thanks for reading. We look forward to reading your comments.     The post What Is Lean? Introducing Employees to Lean Manufacturing appeared first on Convergence Training Blog.

A Harvard Business Review article "What’s Lost When Experts Retire" reminded me about the dire need to rethink our roles as learning professionals and leaders: My sense is that our current of definitions and understanding of expertise may be at odds and stacked against helping novices to become experts.  These are some ideas I have pondered on. I continue to plow the literature on expertise and find it most exhilarating and inspiring. Gladwell’s 10,000 Hours to be an Expert - No Short CutsIn Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell writes that it takes 10,000 hours to achieve mastery. His study reported cases on how mastery requires practice and dedication. Furthermore, Gladwell discovered that no "naturally gifted" performers emerged as experts. So there are no short cuts.  I subscribe to Gladwell’s conclusions that mastery requires thousands of hours. However, this outlook is the far-end spectrum of what expertise is. If we look at expertise as an final end result of capability and mastery, then we may be stuck. Experts are rare and hard to find and expensive to recruit and retain in organizations. How Developers Stop Learning: Rise of the Expert BeginnerErik Dietrich, a software architect has studied programmers and he observed the phenomenon of the "Beginner-Expert." In How Developers Stop Learning: Rise of the Expert Beginner software developers are in high demand and the rapid phase of movement in organizations creates the new type of "Beginner-Expert." These are perceived experts in very narrow skill areas who appear to have earned the reputation of being "experts."  However, they have only been a few years on the job and have not advanced in their proficiency levels, yet, have entrenched themselves in silos of expertise areas. Dietrich believes this presents a problem because it leads to some form of incompetence, referred to in Dreyfus model of skill acquisition.  I shall continue to digest Dietrich’s observations and reports. What is interesting to me is to review Dreyfus’ model of skill acquisition. The model is a stage or linear growth model of competency. The novice is "rule-based" and "have no exercise of discretionary judgement" while the expert "transcends reliance on rules and guidelines."                                                         The Dreyfus ModelThe Dreyfus model is a good foundational model. It is a static way to capture competency. When compared to today’s rapid phase of change and technologically abundant environments, the model could lead to a restrictive understanding  about how we can leverage the knowledge of novices, advanced beginners and those who may not be experts, as defined by Dreyfus. My view is that there must be a way for organizations to further cultivate and maximize the knowledge of novices and experts alike.  See more.Periodic Table of ExpertiseHarry Collins and Rob Evans from Cardiff University espouse "Interactional Expertise." Collins and Evans’ "Periodic Table of Expertise" Essentially, as an oversimplified explanation, the Periodic Table of Expertise shows:  • Dispositions - expertise comes from constant self-reflection and assessments of one’s      scientific findings and discoveries. Experts persistently subject their thinking to      those of others, hence, the need for interaction with other experts and further      scientific discoveries.  • Ubiquitous Tacit Knowledge - is expertise knowledge derived from simplified      understanding, narrow meanings and access to the primary source of the knowledge.   • Specialist Tacit Knowledge - is expertise that is developed through rigor and depth of     understanding of scientific findings with the capacity to present contradictions and     limitations of expert knowledge.   • Meta-Expertises - suggest the different roles of experts  • Meta-Criteria - suggests the ways expertise is developed and qualified   The model suggests that the value of expertise may occur at different levels depending on one’s current competencies. It allows a far broader consideration of the different values of knowledge and contributions. What drew my attention is the idea that different ways people developed expertise is a product of how much they contribute and interact with others and allow modifications and refinements of individual expertise. Critically, it requires that we must always know the limits and contradictions of our own expertise and the ability to clearly articulate these limits.  I understand this to mean, that we all have some level of expertise knowledge. However, we have to constantly test it and subject it to other unknowns.  In so doing, the value of our contributions are applied by others with the accompanying unknowns.  A good illustration would be this. Many bloggers or reporters of knowledge oversimplify, underestimate and only represent one side of a viewpoint or a scientific finding. They fail to inform their audience about the limits and unknowns.  Collins and Evans propose this in their book: See the PDF draft of the book. Expertise Based on "What We Know and Can Do Now" - a Contributions Approach  I propose that expertise is not a destination, but rather a momentary state of our value and ability to contribute. By keeping this thought, we may have an opportunity to train and assist learners and workers to look into their current competencies and knowledge while reflecting  on how they may add further value. We can also call this the Contributor-Expert" or "Inverted Expertise Model." What is paramount is that we as learners  must constantly subject our knowledge to the unknowns and limitations so the recipients of such knowledge may be aware of both the value and the limitations. I will continue to study, reflect and report to you my progress. Until then, let me know what you think. A contributions approach has many advantages and will likely reinforce what efforts we invest in training and learning.   These are a few of the ideas to consider.   • Learners can think of themselves as immediate contributors and add value  • Opportunities allow them to have self confidence  • They think about immediate applications of what they know because they are      expected to contribute  • Learning is accelerated because they practice, show, preach and share what they know      now  • Learners must subject their knowledge to limits and unknowns. References"What’s Lost When Experts Retire", Dorothy Leonard, Walter Swap.Gavin Barton-Harvard Business Review (December 02, 2014)Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell (June 7, 2011)How Developers Stop Learning: Rise of the Expert Beginner, Erik Dietrich ( 2013)Periodic Table of Expertises,  Harry Collins and Robert Evans (March 6,2013)Dreyfus Model for Skill AcquisitionRay Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

  Have you experienced turbulence during your most recent air travel? Or when was the last time you drove into a city street where the speed bumps were so horrendous you had to have your car in full stop to avoid damage to it? This is how it feels like psychologically, when your learners have to take a memory test or knowledge check. It is jarring. It is utterly annoying. Most of all, it often does not help in learning. What Stops Frictionless LearningMost designers and learning specialists would agree that we are seeing the need for more "frictionless" learning - unimpeded and fast learning and access to knowledge and information. Learners are learning while going through their workflow and yet, are constantly in search mode. So, the closer we bring the learning to application, the better the ideas are immediately applied. What stops "frictionless" learning experiences are checkpoints or control points we call "tests." The goal of testing is to help learners learn and ascertain their retention and application of ideas. This is well and good. However, we see more complaints from learners that tests are mere "CYA" actions in compliance courses and "just-to-make-sure-you-covered" the content type of tests. In these situations the tests become hazards to better learning. Differentiate Administrative Control Tests from Learning Tests  Many courses and elearning are designed to show proof of compliance. Usually, they protect the interests of the company in the event there are legal challenges and certain evidences are required by the courts. In this case, we need to call these tests "administrative controls." It is best not to confuse these tests with learning tests, where learners go to through questions to apply ideas. The dangers of not differentiating administrative types of tests from learning tests is that we may make the mistake of swapping them or regarding them as one and the same. The risk is that while we do our best to train people, our tests sabotage their "frictionless" experience.Setting up Design for Unobtrusive Tests with Real-Life EventsA premise to make tests unobtrusive is to add real-life events as examples and references in your lessons. These are anchors that learners can relate to. Content devoid of real-life illustrations, ends up as mere factual information. This is what memorization tests deal with - just  factual content. Without real-life events, our tests will end up being just about memorizing facts. Examples of Unobtrusive TestsTests become unobtrusive when they are relevant, useful, based on real life and applicable to the learners’ work. In short, it helps them understand the content in real-life context. Let us say that the content is about ethics in purchasing:  "When John arrived home he was greeted with a huge package which contained expensive gifts. Upon checking the card, it was obvious to him that Peter, his favorite vendor, sent the gifts. John has seen his bosses accept gifts even if a policy exists to the contrary."If you were John, how would you respond?Application Question: "What should John do?"Reflection Question: "Should John return or accept the gift? What are the risks?"Interpretation Question: "What parts of the policy allows accepting gifts and what aspects prohibit accepting gifts?"Interactive Question: "Should John go and check his personal liability and that of the company in relation to this policy?"Process Question: "At what point should John call the attention of his boss and report about the gifts?"Problem-solving Question: "What should John do if Peter insists that he should keep the gifts?" Unobtrusive tests are found in many elearning courses. They are like speed bumps or turbulences. But we have plenty of opportunities to remove these stumbling blocks.   ReferencesRemove the Sting of Compliance Courses: Make Them Short, Succinct, Easy to Learn Weaving Stories and Factual Content for Seamless Lessons Kill Boring eLearning with Story-Based LessonsRay Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

Send us your favorite leadership quote and receive a free Driving Forces assessment. Email your answers to pm@russellmartin.com  "You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world. You impoverish yourself if you forget this errand." -Woodrow Wilson

 We are required to influence 360 degrees in all organizations to be successful. But how can you collaborate with so many different people at the same time? Barry Oshry wrote a fascinating book called Seeing Systems. In his book, he shows us the personal bias that dominates our thinking in large organizations. We unconsciously adopt blindness to accepted 'systems'- whether you are an executive, middle manager or individual contributor, you get acclimated to the destructible dance of your level. This bothered me at first, since we all want to think we make unique decisions and have unique perspectives. Since, I met Barry years ago, I have found what he shares to be true and notice it often in our consulting and training work. In this overview article of Barry's work, you can see that the diagram has four types of conditions based on an individual's role: Top, Middle, Bottom and Customer. Continuing with the descriptions from the article: We are Top when we have designated responsibility (accountability) for some piece of the action whether it’s the whole organization, a division within it, a department, a project team, or a classroom. "The Developer" We are Bottom when we are experiencing problems with our condition and/or with the condition of the system, problems that we think higher ups ought to be taking care of but are not. We can be Bottom at any level of the organization. "The Fixer" We are Middle when we are experiencing conflicting demands, priorities, and pressures coming at us from two or more individuals or groups. "The Integrator" We are Customer when we are looking to some other person or group for a product or service we need in order to move our work ahead. "The Validator" In truth, all of us move through all of these conditions as we work in our highly matrixed organizations. It may seem like things are crazier today, but these dynamics have been in place since corporations were built. It is not a new system. To manage this well requires clarity of the perspective of each role: Tops seek to strengthen the capacity of what they are accountable for. We inform, involve, ask, give and coach. Under stress, Tops sabotage themselves by taking all the responsibility away from (less effective?) others.  Bottoms seek to identify and  fix things that are wrong. Bottoms sabotage themselves by blaming the higher-ups for messing things up.  Middles are the web, connecting and coordinating the parts. They share, diagnose, and coordinate.  Middles sabotage themselves by aligning to one part of the organization and losing the other (disperse / integrate). Customers evaluate the quality of the delivery, and so, improve everything. They partner, set standards, provide feedback and look for the right people to talk to. They sabotage themselves by denying any responsibility for anything going wrong, entitled and deserving of perfection. This LearningFlash will provide you with challenging thoughts to provoke your own choices about collaborative leadership. If you would also like a deep dive into the "How To" of  leveraging your specific strengths and influencing 360 degrees, consider attending our annual public workshop "The Power of You," which will be held at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis on April 20th and 21st. We have a few openings in this workshop so sign up quickly here. Some recent testimonials from this powerful, vision changing learn-shop: "I learned to be sensitive to other's style and emotional state and how to adapt to approach them in a more effective manner." "I learned I cannot change others, I can only change myself.""I really enjoyed this class. The topics were relevant and important. The examples were an excellent reinforcement." Added bonus: it's a great time of year to head to the Indy 500 to check out the preparations for the 100th Running in May. Find out more here.In this April LearningFlash, I will share mental perceptions, techniques and tools for learning to flow between these conditions and be more effective leading, managing projects and growing teams. Today's highly matrixed work requires the ability to influence 360 degrees- self, up, across, down and wide. Enjoy and challenge yourself with these thoughts to clarify how you play in these systems.  

A Harvard Business Review article "What’s Lost When Experts Retire" reminded me about the dire need to rethink our roles as learning professionals and leaders: My sense is that our current of definitions and understanding of expertise may be at odds and stacked against helping novices to become experts.  These are some ideas I have pondered on. I continue to plow the literature on expertise and find it most exhilarating and inspiring. Gladwell’s 10,000 Hours to be an Expert - No Short CutsIn Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell writes that it takes 10,000 hours to achieve mastery. His study reported cases on how mastery requires practice and dedication. Furthermore, Gladwell discovered that no "naturally gifted" performers emerged as experts. So there are no short cuts.  I subscribe to Gladwell’s conclusions that mastery requires thousands of hours. However, this outlook is the far-end spectrum of what expertise is. If we look at expertise as an final end result of capability and mastery, then we may be stuck. Experts are rare and hard to find and expensive to recruit and retain in organizations. How Developers Stop Learning: Rise of the Expert BeginnerErik Dietrich, a software architect has studied programmers and he observed the phenomenon of the "Beginner-Expert." In How Developers Stop Learning: Rise of the Expert Beginner software developers are in high demand and the rapid phase of movement in organizations creates the new type of "Beginner-Expert." These are perceived experts in very narrow skill areas who appear to have earned the reputation of being "experts."  However, they have only been a few years on the job and have not advanced in their proficiency levels, yet, have entrenched themselves in silos of expertise areas. Dietrich believes this presents a problem because it leads to some form of incompetence, referred to in Dreyfus model of skill acquisition.  I shall continue to digest Dietrich’s observations and reports. What is interesting to me is to review Dreyfus’ model of skill acquisition. The model is a stage or linear growth model of competency. The novice is "rule-based" and "have no exercise of discretionary judgement" while the expert "transcends reliance on rules and guidelines."                                                         The Dreyfus ModelThe Dreyfus model is a good foundational model. It is a static way to capture competency. When compared to today’s rapid phase of change and technologically abundant environments, the model could lead to a restrictive understanding  about how we can leverage the knowledge of novices, advanced beginners and those who may not be experts, as defined by Dreyfus. My view is that there must be a way for organizations to further cultivate and maximize the knowledge of novices and experts alike.  See more.Periodic Table of ExpertiseHarry Collins and Rob Evans from Cardiff University espouse "Interactional Expertise." Collins and Evans’ "Periodic Table of Expertise" Essentially, as an oversimplified explanation, the Periodic Table of Expertise shows:  • Dispositions - expertise comes from constant self-reflection and assessments of one’s      scientific findings and discoveries. Experts persistently subject their thinking to      those of others, hence, the need for interaction with other experts and further      scientific discoveries.  • Ubiquitous Tacit Knowledge - is expertise knowledge derived from simplified      understanding, narrow meanings and access to the primary source of the knowledge.   • Specialist Tacit Knowledge - is expertise that is developed through rigor and depth of     understanding of scientific findings with the capacity to present contradictions and     limitations of expert knowledge.   • Meta-Expertises - suggest the different roles of experts  • Meta-Criteria - suggests the ways expertise is developed and qualified   The model suggests that the value of expertise may occur at different levels depending on one’s current competencies. It allows a far broader consideration of the different values of knowledge and contributions. What drew my attention is the idea that different ways people developed expertise is a product of how much they contribute and interact with others and allow modifications and refinements of individual expertise. Critically, it requires that we must always know the limits and contradictions of our own expertise and the ability to clearly articulate these limits.  I understand this to mean, that we all have some level of expertise knowledge. However, we have to constantly test it and subject it to other unknowns.  In so doing, the value of our contributions are applied by others with the accompanying unknowns.  A good illustration would be this. Many bloggers or reporters of knowledge oversimplify, underestimate and only represent one side of a viewpoint or a scientific finding. They fail to inform their audience about the limits and unknowns.  Collins and Evans propose this in their book: See the PDF draft of the book. Expertise Based on "What We Know and Can Do Now" - a Contributions Approach  I propose that expertise is not a destination, but rather a momentary state of our value and ability to contribute. By keeping this thought, we may have an opportunity to train and assist learners and workers to look into their current competencies and knowledge while reflecting  on how they may add further value. We can also call this the Contributor-Expert" or "Inverted Expertise Model." What is paramount is that we as learners  must constantly subject our knowledge to the unknowns and limitations so the recipients of such knowledge may be aware of both the value and the limitations. I will continue to study, reflect and report to you my progress. Until then, let me know what you think. A contributions approach has many advantages and will likely reinforce what efforts we invest in training and learning.   These are a few of the ideas to consider.   • Learners can think of themselves as immediate contributors and add value  • Opportunities allow them to have self confidence  • They think about immediate applications of what they know because they are      expected to contribute  • Learning is accelerated because they practice, show, preach and share what they know      now  • Learners must subject their knowledge to limits and unknowns. References"What’s Lost When Experts Retire", Dorothy Leonard, Walter Swap.Gavin Barton-Harvard Business Review (December 02, 2014)Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell (June 7, 2011)How Developers Stop Learning: Rise of the Expert Beginner, Erik Dietrich ( 2013)Periodic Table of Expertises,  Harry Collins and Robert Evans (March 6,2013)Dreyfus Model for Skill AcquisitionRay Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

  Have you experienced turbulence during your most recent air travel? Or when was the last time you drove into a city street where the speed bumps were so horrendous you had to have your car in full stop to avoid damage to it? This is how it feels like psychologically, when your learners have to take a memory test or knowledge check. It is jarring. It is utterly annoying. Most of all, it often does not help in learning. What Stops Frictionless LearningMost designers and learning specialists would agree that we are seeing the need for more "frictionless" learning - unimpeded and fast learning and access to knowledge and information. Learners are learning while going through their workflow and yet, are constantly in search mode. So, the closer we bring the learning to application, the better the ideas are immediately applied. What stops "frictionless" learning experiences are checkpoints or control points we call "tests." The goal of testing is to help learners learn and ascertain their retention and application of ideas. This is well and good. However, we see more complaints from learners that tests are mere "CYA" actions in compliance courses and "just-to-make-sure-you-covered" the content type of tests. In these situations the tests become hazards to better learning. Differentiate Administrative Control Tests from Learning Tests  Many courses and elearning are designed to show proof of compliance. Usually, they protect the interests of the company in the event there are legal challenges and certain evidences are required by the courts. In this case, we need to call these tests "administrative controls." It is best not to confuse these tests with learning tests, where learners go to through questions to apply ideas. The dangers of not differentiating administrative types of tests from learning tests is that we may make the mistake of swapping them or regarding them as one and the same. The risk is that while we do our best to train people, our tests sabotage their "frictionless" experience.Setting up Design for Unobtrusive Tests with Real-Life EventsA premise to make tests unobtrusive is to add real-life events as examples and references in your lessons. These are anchors that learners can relate to. Content devoid of real-life illustrations, ends up as mere factual information. This is what memorization tests deal with - just  factual content. Without real-life events, our tests will end up being just about memorizing facts. Examples of Unobtrusive TestsTests become unobtrusive when they are relevant, useful, based on real life and applicable to the learners’ work. In short, it helps them understand the content in real-life context. Let us say that the content is about ethics in purchasing:  "When John arrived home he was greeted with a huge package which contained expensive gifts. Upon checking the card, it was obvious to him that Peter, his favorite vendor, sent the gifts. John has seen his bosses accept gifts even if a policy exists to the contrary."If you were John, how would you respond?Application Question: "What should John do?"Reflection Question: "Should John return or accept the gift? What are the risks?"Interpretation Question: "What parts of the policy allows accepting gifts and what aspects prohibit accepting gifts?"Interactive Question: "Should John go and check his personal liability and that of the company in relation to this policy?"Process Question: "At what point should John call the attention of his boss and report about the gifts?"Problem-solving Question: "What should John do if Peter insists that he should keep the gifts?" Unobtrusive tests are found in many elearning courses. They are like speed bumps or turbulences. But we have plenty of opportunities to remove these stumbling blocks.   ReferencesRemove the Sting of Compliance Courses: Make Them Short, Succinct, Easy to Learn Weaving Stories and Factual Content for Seamless Lessons Kill Boring eLearning with Story-Based LessonsRay Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

Action mapping can be a very helpful tool when developing training. It helps to streamline training by delivering the information that is needed to get the results desired. The resulting training is scenario-rich, and project sponsors can see how the training directly relates to the business goal. Action mapping looks similar to mind mapping but it is significantly different. When you mind map, you chart information as it comes to mind. There is no concern with how items relate to one another. Action mapping, on the other hand, charts items that relate to the identified business goal and its dependencies. Everything relates back to the business goal. Cathy Moore is the Queen of Process Mapping and she provided a great guide here. Her four step action mapping process includes: Identify the business goal. Identify what people need to do to reach that goal. Design activities that help people practice each behavior. Identify the minimum information people need to complete each activity. Give action mapping a try on your next training project.

The day when a single person can work alone, without any help from others, is fast disappearing. Some individuals may still be able to freelance and work alone from time to time but most of us will have to work with others in order to get anything done in a networked society. About five years... Read more »

Like any other business function, effective finance capability is dependent on people, structures, systems and processes. As many may be painfully aware and as highlighted by the ICAEW, Business Partnering struggles by on workarounds cobbled together on a last-minute, must-needs basis. Developing effective skills in process management and business change enables finance teams to break free of this rut, deliver better services and generate more value for the business.

When I started working in Lufkin, one of the first things that I did, before any decision was made, was getting to campuses to listen and talk to teachers. I remember feeling so nervous but I also knew, from being a voiceless classroom teacher, that this step was an important one. It was during a meeting with our high school teachers that I learned about some of our digital infrastructure issues. They could tell you exactly where in the building one could connect and the places where connectivity was weakest. These statements are what drove more in depth research and action into changing that. Our teachers were also quite open about how they wished to learn professionally or even be acknowledged for the learning that they were already doing…learning that is often ignored in districts because of its non-traditional means. It was in those moments that my plan for our "district PD plan" was affirmed. Whatever we did, it needed to be driven by our teachers as there is honest truth to the fact that if we want our students to have the agency to think and have a voice in their learning, our teachers need this for themselves. Our teachers also needed to know that their ideas were framing what we do. This was critical. A few months ago, during a conversation at Educon, Zac Chase tweeted a statement that has been with me since the day that it flew across my feed. If you want people to feel empowered, give them power. That’s it. Do that. #educon — Zac Chase (@MrChase) January 30, 2016 There are so many realities of school that teachers have no choice or voice in and I often wonder how much people really get that. It’s easy to talk about what we want to see in classrooms and how schools should function differently but it’s an entirely different idea to be at the forefront of those decisions…to have a voice in the fundamental work that we do…work that is not just absent of teacher ideas but also students. The fact is, that somehow our traditions of who gets a seat at the table are limited to those with the titles to do so and not enough to those who are impacted most. While we are far from perfect in my district, there is effort given through student leadership meetings, cross-cultural parent cohorts and teacher collaboratives like our digital ambassadors. It’s a start, but ideally I hope that we can get to the point where one doesn’t need to be in a special cohort to question the norm…to add their ideas to the pot and to be central in decision making. This is my greatest hope and why I found great comfort in reading books like Building School 2.0: How to Create the Schools We Need because it illustrated through the eyes of SLA that is certainly possible. I will admit to struggling at one point with which decisions needed to be mine and when they needed to be community driven. Ultimately, my own clarity came from thinking of times when I wanted to have a voice and didn’t. I remembered what it felt like to have everything from the curriculum that we used to language in which we expressed it and the "common style" from which we had to teach designated by someone else and it sucked. I also remember what it felt like to be a student in classrooms with teachers who were so "programmed" by the traditionalism of school that they often did not see me as a person beyond the scribble in the gradebook. Opening the door to teachers and their ideas changes the trajectory of the decisions being made. The same applies when including students…especially when they realize that the world is different outside of their walls and zip codes. Information is power. As my friend Zac Chase said, power can be empowering. This is what changes schools. It isn’t a brand new curriculum, new technology or hiring that person you admired from social media EDU. It is about creating a culture of openness that embraces our differences, realities, passions and curiosities. It’s a community of learners with voices, not defined by job titles but by the common desire to help students create the world through their own curiosities. I’m often accused of being too idealistic…much like a teacher brand new to how "school" works. Please…let that always be the case.

 In developing a small story-based lesson, it has to be short, snappy, succinct, easy to follow and effective in engaging learners and imparting knowledge.Please preview this demo and then review the explanations below. This is only a small section of possibly several course lessons.There are seven parts of the small Story-Based Lesson.1.  Relocate Traditional Learning ObjectivesMost learning objectives are not well stated. They usually state the trainer's objectives rather than that of the learners' hence, they tend to be irrelevant to the learner's needs. They interrupt the learner. They cause immediate rejection of the content - "here it goes again, very boring topics." Relocate it to the top so learners can view it at their option and lawyers and HR people are happy they see it is there. 2.  Start with a Real-Life IncidentLearners instantly relate to real-life situations. Our brains are wired to respond to stories; a lot faster compared to viewing a factual, theoretical or technical information. The first page should instantly grab learners' attention. Use the characters to have conversations showing emotions and consequences. Use first voice, vivid images and clean page design. No clutter. Focus on one idea in each slide.    3.  Use the Story as the TitleBy using the story as the title, we are quickly engaging the learner. The learner would learn the technical title as he/she goes through the slides.4.  Emotional Flow of the StoryIn the slides, start with the situation, then gradually move to the conflict -"My credit card was declined." Then present the slide with the Story Question.The learner sees the incident then he/she encounters the conflict and now the decision point.     5.  Ask Story QuestionsStory questions are questions that invite learners to become part of the story.This is different from factual or technical questions, which we tend to ask learners to memorize. Our focus in the Story-Based Design is on application questions and not memorization.6.  Use Interactive StoriesWe want learners to recall the facts with the aid of the story. We want them to be part of the story. This is the difference between Storytelling and Interactive Story. In storytelling we (the trainers) tell the story. In Interactive Stories the learners interact with the story.7.  Embedded ContentThe usual way of showing content is by telling and teaching the facts without the context. Learners forget them most of the time. One reason we have knowledge checks is to make sure that learners remember the content. In essence, we force them to learn technical information.In the Story-Based Lesson we embed, insert, combine or fuse the technical content into the lessons. From the start to the end, within the story, the characters are talking about the content. The content is presented as part of the story hence, embedded.8.  Policies and References are Repositioned on TopPolicies and references are positioned on the top as links. Learners can review them as requested and mentioned in the story. Contrary to the practice of converting long policies and procedures into dozens and hundreds of slides, we present them in PDF form. There is no need to "glorify" or add multimedia when the PDF can be read faster and searched easier.Some of you may ask, "what if it is required by lawyers?" Then ask learners to read the PDF and you can still collect completion data by using some variables in your software.ConclusionHow does Story-Based Design work?It grabs learners. It is short, snappy and easy to follow. It is relevant. It helps learners to relate to the content in real-life and in meaningful ways and they remember the ideas you want to teach.How does the Story-Based Design save you money?By focusing on the content properly and isolating long readings into PDFs, you just cut your budget. We focus the learners on the main slides where the key ideas we want them to learn are located. Therefore, we prune long and tedious multimedia slides which are only a series of clicks and forward type of technical lesson.    Ray Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

Studies have shown that more and more companies are using videos and webinar recordings to support learning. The challenge however, is that most videos can be boring, tedious and limits the learner from following their own interests. Most videos and recordings do not allow viewers to instantly drill into the details. It's time consuming to watch the entire thing and it can be difficult to move forward or backwards.Now, preview the Pinpoint Webinar Recording: Developing Micro-Learning for Learners on the Go: Other Webinar Examples:Breaking Training Development Project RulesWrite it Right! Use a Seven Step Process to Develop Learning ActivitiesBuild Trust to Improve PerformanceMain Benefits to LearnersAll the features are designed to allow learners to:Instantly drill down the detailsFollow their interest areasAllow a quick way of referencing back to previous learningSaves timeEngage learnersAccess more materialsSalient PointsSearch Tool - allows learners to search the key ideas in the recording.Table of Contents - lists the main sections of the video.Links - shows learners where to find links referred to by the speaker.Annotations - allows learners to see main ideas.More details - download materials, contact speakers.Chat Transcript - shows learners what the responses of other learners are to speaker's questions and activities.Ray Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

Thanks to Clark Quinn  for allowing me to use this chart. It summarizes what Roger Schank presented at the LearnTechAsia, where according to him, "Roger gave his passioned, opinionated, irreverent, and spot-on talk to kick off LearnTechAsia. He covered the promise (or not) of AI, learning, stories, and the implications for education."The idea map summarizes much of what Roger Schank has been a proponent of. Known the world over as the leading visionary in virtual learning environments, artificial intelligence, learning theory and cognitive science, he is the CEO of Socratic Arts, a company that specializes in the design, and implementation of story-centered and learning-by-doing curricula both in the academic and corporate worlds.I am an ardent follower of Schank and other thought leaders who use narratives and stories in learning. Hence, this tip is about my reflections on the Map and an interpretation on how this affects what we do in learning design and implementation of platforms.Theory, Practice and ApplicationAI and Story Memories. A dominant theory of Schank is based on using stories in learning design. He describes this using other terms: scenarios, diagnostics, discovery, experience sharing, and others. In his research on Artificial Intelligence, he postulated that memories are indexed by stories (Tell me a Story, 1995). Stories fuel conversations, discoveries and formulation of self-learning. Schank believes that it is in the exchange of stories through conversations that people learn and unlearn. Without conversations there is no way the learner can reorganize the patterns in his/her mind on ideas. Decision making is facilitated by stories and real-life experiences. In many situations, decisions are hampered with a reference point provided by experienced sources like experts (The Future of Decision Making, 2010).  Diagnostic is key to learning. He proposes that if learners have to learn, they need to diagnose problems and get into the gut of it. The diagnostic approach helps learners come to grips with the real-life essence of the content.  (Teaching Minds, 2011)Testing and Memorization is Counter-Learning. Schank opposes the trend in education and training where learning design relies heavily on rote learning and memorization. He prefers discovery by allowing learners to "act" the content in their own real-life situations. If you want to train for math, let them do math and discover the better ways to apply it in actual professions like being an engineer or to tasks needing mathematical calculations. He observes that most training design are geared towards academic goals rather than personal goals. ConclusionRoger Schank departs from the traditional method of teaching which is characterized by rote learning and testing without context. His preference for discovery learning turns the steering wheel of learning over to the learners rather than the designers. Now, learners are free to learn what they want and how they want to achieve that goal.ReferencesAbout Roger C. SchankTell Me a Story: Narrative and Intelligence (Rethinking Theory)The Future of Decision MakingTeaching Minds: How Cognitive Science Can Save Our SchoolsRay Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

 In developing a small story-based lesson, it has to be short, snappy, succinct, easy to follow and effective in engaging learners and imparting knowledge.Please preview this demo and then review the explanations below. This is only a small section of possibly several course lessons.There are seven parts of the small Story-Based Lesson.1.  Relocate Traditional Learning ObjectivesMost learning objectives are not well stated. They usually state the trainer's objectives rather than that of the learners' hence, they tend to be irrelevant to the learner's needs. They interrupt the learner. They cause immediate rejection of the content - "here it goes again, very boring topics." Relocate it to the top so learners can view it at their option and lawyers and HR people are happy they see it is there. 2.  Start with a Real-Life IncidentLearners instantly relate to real-life situations. Our brains are wired to respond to stories; a lot faster compared to viewing a factual, theoretical or technical information. The first page should instantly grab learners' attention. Use the characters to have conversations showing emotions and consequences. Use first voice, vivid images and clean page design. No clutter. Focus on one idea in each slide.    3.  Use the Story as the TitleBy using the story as the title, we are quickly engaging the learner. The learner would learn the technical title as he/she goes through the slides.4.  Emotional Flow of the StoryIn the slides, start with the situation, then gradually move to the conflict -"My credit card was declined." Then present the slide with the Story Question.The learner sees the incident then he/she encounters the conflict and now the decision point.     5.  Ask Story QuestionsStory questions are questions that invite learners to become part of the story.This is different from factual or technical questions, which we tend to ask learners to memorize. Our focus in the Story-Based Design is on application questions and not memorization.6.  Use Interactive StoriesWe want learners to recall the facts with the aid of the story. We want them to be part of the story. This is the difference between Storytelling and Interactive Story. In storytelling we (the trainers) tell the story. In Interactive Stories the learners interact with the story.7.  Embedded ContentThe usual way of showing content is by telling and teaching the facts without the context. Learners forget them most of the time. One reason we have knowledge checks is to make sure that learners remember the content. In essence, we force them to learn technical information.In the Story-Based Lesson we embed, insert, combine or fuse the technical content into the lessons. From the start to the end, within the story, the characters are talking about the content. The content is presented as part of the story hence, embedded.8.  Policies and References are Repositioned on TopPolicies and references are positioned on the top as links. Learners can review them as requested and mentioned in the story. Contrary to the practice of converting long policies and procedures into dozens and hundreds of slides, we present them in PDF form. There is no need to "glorify" or add multimedia when the PDF can be read faster and searched easier.Some of you may ask, "what if it is required by lawyers?" Then ask learners to read the PDF and you can still collect completion data by using some variables in your software.ConclusionHow does Story-Based Design work?It grabs learners. It is short, snappy and easy to follow. It is relevant. It helps learners to relate to the content in real-life and in meaningful ways and they remember the ideas you want to teach.How does the Story-Based Design save you money?By focusing on the content properly and isolating long readings into PDFs, you just cut your budget. We focus the learners on the main slides where the key ideas we want them to learn are located. Therefore, we prune long and tedious multimedia slides which are only a series of clicks and forward type of technical lesson.    Ray Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

Studies have shown that more and more companies are using videos and webinar recordings to support learning. The challenge however, is that most videos can be boring, tedious and limits the learner from following their own interests. Most videos and recordings do not allow viewers to instantly drill into the details. It's time consuming to watch the entire thing and it can be difficult to move forward or backwards.Now, preview the Pinpoint Webinar Recording: Developing Micro-Learning for Learners on the Go: Other Webinar Examples:Breaking Training Development Project RulesWrite it Right! Use a Seven Step Process to Develop Learning ActivitiesBuild Trust to Improve PerformanceMain Benefits to LearnersAll the features are designed to allow learners to:Instantly drill down the detailsFollow their interest areasAllow a quick way of referencing back to previous learningSaves timeEngage learnersAccess more materialsSalient PointsSearch Tool - allows learners to search the key ideas in the recording.Table of Contents - lists the main sections of the video.Links - shows learners where to find links referred to by the speaker.Annotations - allows learners to see main ideas.More details - download materials, contact speakers.Chat Transcript - shows learners what the responses of other learners are to speaker's questions and activities.Ray Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning